Machine for double seaming covers on can bodies



Sept. 10, 1929. HILL 1,727,770

MACHINE FOR DOUBLE SEAMING COVERS ON CANBODIES Filed April 3, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 y 4 fiTTIJQNEY Sept. 10, 1929. H HILL 1,727,770

MACHINE FOR DOUBLE SEAMING COVERS ON CAN BODIES Filed April 3, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 12? v i j INVENTEIR JAZZ 23 my" 16' HTTURNEY I Patented Sept. 10, v

, UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

HUGH G. HILL, or WHEELING, wEs'r vine-mun. ASSIGNOR, .BY-MESNE nssrem mnn'rs, T CONTINENTAL can company, mc.;,'.a conronnrron on N W YQRK;

MACHINE non DOUBLE snmme 'covnns 01v CAN nonins Y 7 Application filed April 3,

This invention relates broadly to canheading devices,,and 'it has for its primary object to provide a simple, eflicient and comparatively inexpensive machine, designed for the use of small packers, as also for domestic' use, whereby covers may be double seamed uponcans for hermetically sealing the latter.

A further object is to rovide a hand operated machine of the c aracter mentioned which requires no special skill in its oporation and in which the application of the seeming rollers is efiected automatically, or

without the manual intervention required in prior structures of the class to which time invention relates.

" In describing the invention in detail, reference is herein had to the accompanying drawings, in which' Figure 6 is asection on line 66, Fig. 5;

and

Figure 7 is a partial section of the drive gearing takenfsubstantially on line 77,

Fig. 3. Referring to said drawings, land 2 designate relatively spaced upright members of a frame by means of which the operating parts of.the machine are supported. Clamping means 3 engageablewith an edge of a work table or bench is herein shown as illustrative of a simple and practical form of mounting for the frame. I I Connecting th frame members 1 and 2 adjacentthe lower ends is a horizontally disposed member 4 and connecting said frame members 1 and 2 at their upper ends is a bar-like member 13. "This forms in a measure an upright rectangular frame on which the operating mechanism of the machine is mounted. The member has formed therein a vertical bored seat 5 which has Figure 1 is a'front elevation of the in-.

192: Serial no. 266,976.

' S mounted therein the lower end of anupright pin '6. Formed on the outer circumferential portion of said seat are inclined surfaces 7 upon which similarly inclined surfaces 8 provided on the under side of the hub portion 9 ofa hand lever 10 are adapt-- ed to ride as said lever is rotated. A hub 11 formed centrallyjof the under side of a chuck plate 12 is rotatable upon the upper end of said pin 6 and occupies seated relation to the hub 9 of the lever 10. Thus, par-1 tial rotation of said lever, in which its inclined surfaces 8' ride upon the similar sur- I faces .7 of the seat 5, eflects elevating and lowering movements ofsaid chuck plate 12, which latter constitutes a rest for the support of cams to be headed. From the above it will be apparent that this support for the can. is mounted in the lower part of the frame. I

3. The bar-like member 13 at the upper part of the frame carries in rigid relation thereto or has formed therewith substantiaL' 1y between its ends, a vertical depending bored stem 14 in which is rotatably mounted a spindle 15. Said spindle carries upon its lower end the. hub 16 of a fixed chuck plate 16 which is designed to seat snugly within the embrace of the peripheral flange of a can cover that rests loosely in seated relation to the open upper end of a can body which, supported by.the lower chuck plate 12, has been elevated to seaming position.

Mounted for rotation upon the exterior surface of said stem 14. between the under side, of the bar 13 and the hub 16 of the chuck plate 16 is the hub 18 of a.worm

gear 18, and keyed upon the lower'end of c said hub 18"is adisk-19 whichcarries thereon in proper relation a plurality of verti- --cally disposed pins, as 20 and21 on which 5 gaming rollers 22 and 23," respective1y, are freely rotatable.

The worm gear 18 isdriven through the intermediacy of. a worm 17 carried, by a shaft 24 which'is suitably journaled in a .horizontal position. 'Said worm is'partial- 1y enclosed by a casing 25, and its shaft '24 carries a fixed spur gear 26 which occupies a position in which it is. adapted to be 9'- driven by a gear 27 carried by a drive shaft 28. Said drive shaft, which is suitably journaled, as in a bearing 29 provided on the bar 13, carries a hand crank 30 on its outer end and a bevel pinion 31 on its inner 0 end, the latter occupying driving relation to a bevel gear 32 which is fixed on the upper end of the spindle 15 and which has its hub seated in overlying relation to the upper end of the stem 14.

The seaming rollers 22 and 23 have therein circumferential grooves 22 and 23 re-' spectively, and are designed to act successively upon the flanges of the can body and the cover for progressively curling and folding said flanges one upon the other in the formation'of a double seam in which they are closely interlocked to form a hermetic seal.

It is to be noted that rotation of the hand crank 30 effects rotation both of the upper chuck plate 16 and of the rollercarrying disk 19; also that the gearin'gs through which said elements are driven provide for rotation of the chuck plate at a speed greatly in excess of that of the disk, said gearings being so designed that the chuck plate shall make a plurality of revolutions, as from eight to ten, in each revolution of the roller carrying disk.

It is further to be noted that the stem 14 has the bore 1st thereof located eccentrically, or off center, while the axis of rotation of the chuck plate 16 remains fixed at all times. By reason of this, the spindle 15 and the thereby carried chuck-plate 16 have one axis of rotation and the roller carrying disk has another such axis, said axes being relatively parallel and spaced apart a distance at least equal to the radial traverse required of the seaming rollers to effect turning of the cover and body flanges to closed double-seam completing position.

The chuck plate 16 has its peripheral edge milled or knurled for assuming frictional driving relation to the flange of the can cover when the latter, seated within the open upper end of the can body, is elevated with the said can body into firmly seated relation thereto.

Thus, when rotation is imparted to said chuck plate through rotation of the hand crank, the can body and cover are caused to rotate therewith. At the same time the disk 19 is actuated through its drive gearings to rotate at a relatively much slower rate of speed.

In the rotation of said disk 19 the forward roller 22 carried thereby is gradually moved inward for progressively curling the flanges of the can and its cover into double-seam.

forming position, and the roller 23, following after the roller 22 and occupying a position slightly closer to the axis of s a id disk, acts progressively upon said flanges to still further close the seam and performs the final closing of the seam against the can body. The said flanges initially occupy the position of the dotted line a shown in Fig. 4 and the rollers serve to coil or fold said flanges downwardly and inwardly until they occupy the position shown by the dotted line (2 against the body of the can, indicated by the dotted line 0. Manifestly, the seaming operation is completely performed in the first half revolution of the disk and the rollers are carried outward to their outermost, or initial, position in the last half of the revolution of said disk.

Means whereby the disk 19 is positively stopped at the end of each revolution is provided, the means herein shown for purposes of illustration consisting of a lug or block 34: rigidly carried in appropriate position by said disk and a stop pin 35 with which said block is engageable and Which is loosely mounted in an overlying portion of the frame and elevatable by hand to permit said block to pass thereunder at the beginning of each can heading operation.

. To adapt the machine for closing cans of different sizes, or diameters, the disk 19 is provided with a plurality of sets of holes 36,

the holes of each set being spaced at different distances from the center of the disk. The pins for the seaming rollers may be mounted in the holes to position the rollers as required to suit the diameter of the cans which are to be headed.

From the foregoing it will be understood that T have provided a mechanism ofsimple and inexpensive form for applying covers to cans, and that, as herein shown, it is wholly automatic in its operation, except that it is manually driven and that the stop pin must be manually lifted to permit initiation of each heading operation.

It will be manifest that various changes may be made in the form and arrangement of some of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is- 1. A machine for double seaming covers on can bodies, comprising a frame, a vertically movable can support rotatably mounted on the lower part of said frame, a vertical stem carried by the upper part of said frame, a spindle mounted for rotation in said stem, a driving chuck plate fixed on said spindle, said spindle and said chuck plate being axially alined with said can support and being located eccentrically with the roller-carrying disk and whereby said spindle is rotated to effect rotation of said driving chuck plate, said means operating to drive said chuck plate at a speed greatly exceeding that of said disk.-

2. A machine for double seaming covers K on can bodies, comprising a frame, a vertically movable can support rotatably mounted on the lower part of said frame, a vertically depending stem carried by the upper part of said frame, a spindle rotatable in said stem, a driving chuck fixed on said spindle, said spindle and said chuck being axially alined with said can support and disposed eccentrically with respect to the axis of saidstem, a disk rotatable on said stem in overhanging relation to said chuck, seam ing rollers carried by said disk, and driving means for said chuck and for said disk, said means including gearings whereby the chuck is rotated at a speed greatly in excess of that of said'disk.

3. A machine for double seaming covers on can bodies, comprising a frame, a vertically movable can support rotatably mounted on the lower part of said frame, a verti cally depending stem carried by the upper part of said frame, a spindle rotatable in said stem, 2, driving chuck fixed on said spindle, said spindle and said chuck being axially alined with said can support, a disk rotatably mounted on said stem in overhanging relation to said chuck, seaming rollers carried by said disk, and driving means for effecting rotation of said chuck and of said disk, said means including gearings whereby said chuck is rotated at relatively higher speed than that of said disk, said chuck and said disk being rotatable on non-alined axes for causing the disk, in each revolution thereof, to advance the seam ing rollers toward the can to the extent required to effect the formation of the seam and then to withdraw said rollers to initial position.

4. A machine for double seaming covers on can bodies, comprising a frame, a vertically movable can support rotatably mounted on the lower part of said frame, a vertically depending stem carried by the upper part of said frame, a' spindle rotatable in said stem, a driving chuck fixed on said spindle, said spindle and-said chuck being axially alined with said can support, a disk rotatably mounted on said stem in overhanging relation to said chuck, seaming rollers carried by said disk, and driving means for effecting rotation of said chuck and of said disk, said means including gearings whereby said chuck is rotated at relatively higher speed than that of said disk, said chuck and said disk having their axes eccentrically related thereby to cause the disk, in each revolution thereof, to present the rollers in gradual double-seam forming spindle carried by the upper part of said frame, a driving chuck carried by said spindle, a disk rotatable on said bearing and occupying overhanging relation to said chuck, said spindle and said chuck being axial 1y alined with said can support and being d1sposed eccentricaliy with respect to said disk, seaming rollers carried by said disk, and driving means whereby rotation of said chuck and said disk may be effected, said means including gearings which eflectdriving of the chuck throughout a plurality of revolutions to each revolution of the disk.

6. A machine for double-seaming covers on can bodies, comprising a frame, a vertically elevatable can support rotatable on the lower part of said frame, a vertically disposed rotatable spindle, a bearingfor said spindle carried by the upper part of said frame, a driving chuck carried by said spindle, a worm gear rotatable on said bearing, a disk carried in fixed relation to said gear, seaming rollers carried by said disk and adapted to cooperate with said chuck for double seaming covers on cans carried by said can support, said chuck being axially .alined with said can support and being disposed eccentrically with respect to the axis of said disk, and means-for effecting rotation of said spindle and said gear, said means including gearings whereby said spindle is driven throughout a plurality of revolutions to each revolution of the worm gear.

7. A machine for double seaming covers on can bodies comprising a supporting frame, means for supporting and rotating a can body with the cover applied thereto including a chuck engaging said cover, a disk mounted for rotation about a center set eccentrically to the center of rotation of said chuck, seaming rolls carried by said disk, means for rotating the disk, means for rotating said chuck at a speed greatly exceeding that of said disk, whereby as said disk rotates the seaming rolls will be moved toward the center of said chuck and engage the cover for forming a double seam between said cover and can body.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

HUGH G. HILL. 

